Dewalt 18v xr = 20v xr max, WATCH this before you buy

We have occasionally received similar emails that ask about if we made mistakes that their batteries may not compatible with our adapter ot tools.

The answer is that BOTH DEWALT 18V XR AND 20V XR SLIDE STYLE BATTERIES ARE THE SAME. KNOWN AS 20V MAX IN NORTH AMERICA,HOWEVER, THEY ARE CALLED 18V XR IN UK AND EURPOEAN COUNTRIES. Please check the pictures below.

There is still a lot of confusion about what Dewalt 20V Max really means.In the most simplistic terms, Dewalt 20V Max = 18V. These aren’t 20V battery packs, they’re 18V battery packs.

If you didn’t already know this, don’t worry, it’s not just you. lots of people still assume 20V Max is more powerful than 18V.

When Dewalt first launched their 20V Max lineup with 20V Max branding, their marketing exec said it was to “avoid confusion.” They said that the intent was to differentiate the new tools from previous 18V tools so that users would know they were not backwards compatible.

Everywhere outside North America, there is no “20V Max.” Dewalt’s current generation of Li-ion power tools are simply branded 18V XR.

Here in the USA, Dewalts more premium brushless tools and higher capacity battery packs have 20V Max XR branding. These tools and batteries didn’t exist until a few years after the 20V Max platform launched.

Which would you think is more powerful, an 18V power tool or 20V power tool? “Well duh, 20V,” is the default thinking of a lot of people, or at least many if not most Americans. It’s how we’re trained to think.

What is important is that users understand that 20V Max battery packs operate at 18V nominally.

If you measure the output of a 20V Max battery pack when it’s pulled right off a charger, it’ll measure somewhere around 20V. But once a load is applied and that battery pack is put to use, the output will be 18V.

The truth is that there are 18v xr pod style lithium-ion batteries as well. They are 18v XRP, instead.

Please confirm the battery style in SLIDE OR POD before you buy.